


The Sweater (4. Red stains)

by LovelyAnathema



Series: Febuwhump 2020 [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bullied Peter Parker, Bullying, Gen, Google Documents is my beta, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyAnathema/pseuds/LovelyAnathema
Summary: He wasn't ready for the sight that received him.Red. On everything.The kid was bended over the sink, scrubbing something under the water steam, hands stained and water turning red as soon as it made contact with him.It almost gave him a heart attack.Peter turn to him, eyes big but red and swollen“Mi- Mi- Mister Stark?
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623892
Comments: 8
Kudos: 252





	The Sweater (4. Red stains)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, it's past midnight, but I'm still not giving up

It was a curious day, one of those where it's cold but the sky is clear and the sun’s shining bright. 

Tony knew the logical explanation, it was all matter if the angle of the earth regarding the sun and the distance between them, but that didn't make it any less curious. 

What was really curious, however, (and I’m talking about the weird part of the spectrum) was the fact that Tony Stark had been sitting in his parked car for almost 20 minutes now; and nothing gave him any sign that it was about to change.

He wasn't an expert when it came to dealing with teenagers, but he was pretty sure that keep someone waiting for that long was rude, right? Not that he can say the respected that as well, but still, when it came to certain kid, rudeness wasn’t really usual. So he tried to call him again, and again, and again.

Five more minutes and four phone calls later, he decided that it had been enough and was about to leave. But something inside of his mind keep telling him to wait; he needed to see the kid.

He gave up and resigned to trust his gut, got out of the car and entered said teenager's school.

  
  
  


It was unnervingly easy to do so, he made a mental note to give a donation to the school and have them improving security.

As he kept walking he couldn’t understand why on earth his brain decided it was the right course of action? Tony didn't know where to start looking for the kid, for all he knew he could be gone now (except he was sure it was impossible, not only because he had been watching the doors and knew for a fact the suit wasn't being used right now, but because Peter just wouldn't bail on him without further notice)

  
  


“You're looking for Parker?” a random girl with curly hair, not even bothering to look up from her book

_ Jesus, where she came from? _

“I think he's on the bathroom that's at the end of the east hallway” she continued, as if she didn't even needed his answer.”You really should really go check on him.” she tried to sound uninterested, nut her eyes gave her away at the last sentence.

"... Thanks" Tony was a little taken aback but tried to keep his facade. "Hey, I would appreciate if you didn't say anything about me being here"

She made a lazy attempt of a military greeting and kept reading.

  
  


Okay, so what if Tony rushed to said bathroom? It was a perfectly normal way to check on your child,  _ a child _

He wasn't ready for the sight that received him.

Red. On everything.

The kid was bended over the sink, scrubbing something under the water steam, hands stained and water turning red as soon as it made contact with him.

It almost gave him a heart attack.

Peter turn to him, eyes big but red and swollen

“Mi- Mi- Mister Stark?”

The billionaire couldn't help himself and rushed to inspect the teen,looking for any injury

“Wha- Mister Stark?”

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

Peter closed his eyes, took a deep breath and shook his hair "What are you doing here?"

“You weren't answering your phone and came in looking for you” his voice desperate “What happened?”

“I'm alright, sir.” Peter's voice was calm but it broke a little. "I'm sorry, I forgot"

“Be honest with me, please.” He cupped the kid's face to make to look him in the eyes. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

Peter was surprised. He had expected his mentor's touch to be strong and rough but was incredibly soft, even with calloused hands. It reminded the teen of Aunt May or Uncle Ben doing the same thing to tell him something serious or trying to get him to tell the true.

And that was it. That alone broke him down. He let out a sob and hugged the older man strongly. After a few seconds, Tony hugged him back and ran his hand through his hair. He hadn’t noticed that it was soaked as well. He was still freaking out, but the logical part of his brain told him that if the kid was injured he would've seen it by now. So instead, he focused on calming the kid down; patting him and whispering softs "It's okay, you're okay"

If someone had told the ex playboy that he would be holding a crying kid in the middle of a high school's bathroom room a year ago, he would've laughed on their face and called security on them. Funny how things change.

After some time, Peter calmed down.

"Thank you” Peter muttered

“Don’t mention it, kid”

The next moment was a little awkward, neither of them knew what to do next.

Tony thought that being the responsible adult there, it was his duty to make things better; so he broke the silence with a “What do you say about getting out of here, grab some junk food and spend the day on the lab trying to teach Dum-E how to use a screwdriver, bud?” It was kinda of lame and probably what would end up doing anyway and they both knew it, but it worked because the boy gave him a hesitant smile

“That sounds good”

Tony wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but Peter grabbed the thing he was scrubbing from the sink and delicately squeezed it. 

Now that the man took a close look at it, he realised it was a sweeter soaked in what seemed to be crimson paint. “I think that it’s a lost cause, kid”

… That was the wrong thing to say.

The tears returned to the younger one eye’s “It’s alright, Mister Stark, I want it anyway”

“C’mon, kid, I can get you a new one on the way home. It’s not a big deal”

“No” Peter knew that his tone was rude, so tried to amend it with a soft “I can get a bag to put it in so it won’t drip all over your car”

Tony winced “It’s not about that, kid.” 

“I don’t want to!” Now it was the teen’s turn to wince “… I’m sorry, that was rude”

“It’s alright” Tony signed “I can still buy you a new one”

“I don’t need one”

Tony wanted to argue but restrained himself “ What did it happen to it, anyway?”

“I-I spilled paint all over myself” he sputtered.

Yeah, that was a lie. The older man tried to not think about how well he knew the child by now to instantly called it bullshit.

“Yeah, with your reflexes that’s totally believable”

“I can’t show off those in school, sir.” Peter said, looking down.

“And care to elaborate how did it happen?”

“I… I tripped”

“Hmm… so you tripped and poured a bucket of paint all over yourself from above”

“It was a weird way of falling” his tone made Peter squint.

He decided to leave it alone for a while “C’mon, let’s go”

The walk to the car was worse than any walk of shame and Tony had had a fair share of them when he was on college.

Once they got into the car, he kept pressing

“Pete, who did it?”

“I- I… what? I don’t know what are you talking about”

“C’mon, I’m not stupid, who did this?”

“No one! It was an accident”

He tried to take it easy, he had read somewhere that kids usually didn’t want to talk about these kind of things for embarrassment, fear or many other reasons. But it was important to listen to them, reassure them, make them understand that it wasn’t right and encourage them to stand up for themselves one way or another.  _ No, it wasn’t a parenting book, shut up, Rhodey. _

“Kid, I know for a fact that you can’t take down anyone on your school. So, please, tell me” he tried to say it softly, but it didn’t really sound like it.

“It’s nothing, Mister Stark”

“Are you really going to cover up for a bully?”

“It’s no-”

“I thought you were against people taking advantage of others”

“It’s not like that, I can take it”

“It’s not about that, Peter! And what about for when you’re not their target anymore? What about when those bastards get to college (if they do) and turn against some other kid thinking that they could also take it?” Tony tried to reason “Why not put it an end here?”

Peter thought of that for a moment, and then said “They’ll treat me like a snitch”

“I promise I’ll go out of my way to prevent that”, he said solemnly, ”and you know who you’re talking with”

The kid look at with for a long moment.

“It was Brad and his friends. They cornered me because they couldn’t make it to the Decathlon team and knew I’m in red numbers, they wanted me to quit. When I refused, Collin grabbed me and the other two poured that thing all over me.” Peter sighed “Then, Flash passed by, saw me and took a bunch of pictures and made fun of me”

The engineer took a deep breath and counted to 10 mentally, he couldn’t lose it in front of the kid.

“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry. It won't happen again”

After that they did what they were supposed to do and returned to their usual banter.

**____________**

Later that night, while Tony was helping the kid to collect his stuff, he tried again.

“Seriously, you should throw that thing away, I’ll get you a new one” he gestured to the bag.

Peter’s eyes went sad again “No, it was Ben’s”

_ Oh _

“See you later, Mister Stark!” the kid nearly shouted, trying (and failing) to pretend it didn’t matter. As he run toward the lift.

That changed things a bit.

At the beginning, Tony had planned to go to the Principal, talk to him and all teachers in school and then the brats themselves, just to give them a little scare. Now, he needed to spice things up a little bit, he decided to talk to their parents instead and give the a little scare anyway. Not that anyone would believe the Iron Man could be threatening teen at the same time in different locations anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Now, that’s an Avengers level threat
> 
> As always, constructive critisisim is welcome :)


End file.
